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Celebration of tbe ®ne IHunbrebtb 



Hnniversarig of tbe Meeting 

Mouse of tbe jfitrst TReligious So^ 

cieti2 in Ulewburi^port* 



©ctobcr 31, 1901. 







newburyport: 
Printed by order of tbe Society. 

1902. 



MORNING EXERCISES. 



On Thursday morning, October 31, 1901, the meeting house 
of the First Religious Society in Newburyport was in a gala 
dress for the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the 
dedication of the edifice. The pulpit was adorned with autumn 
leaves and on the platform below were many potted plants and 
flowers, with tall rich ferns, and a large audience assembled to 
take part in the celebration. 

The choir consisted of the following well known vocalists : 
Messrs. G. E. L. Noyes, Wallace Adams, R. G. Adams, L. S. 
Choate, Mrs. H. A. Gillett, Miss E. C. Adams, Miss Jessie 
Junkins and Mrs. Horace Noyes. Mrs. E. H. Noyes was 
organist. 

The exercises opened with an organ voluntary by Mrs. Noyes, 
followed by an anthem by the choir, "I Will Sing of Thy Power, 
O God!" — Sullivan. The 145th psalm was read responsively. 
Rev. Charles Summer Holton of the First Church of Newbury, 
leading. The Choir next sang the Elijah chorus, "He Is Watch- 
ing Over Israel," — Mendelssohn. Rev. William Henry Pear- 
son of Somerville, a native of this city, led in prayer. The 
choir sang Mendelssohn's "I Waited for the Lord." The con- 
gregation sang the following original hymn written by Rev. 
Samuel Longfellow for the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary 
of the society : 



HYMN BY REV. SAMUEL LONGFELLOW. 

By this broad stream our fathers made their dwelling, 
Builded their ships and launched them from the shore, 

Trusting in God when waves were roughly swelling. 
They dared the sea, nor trembled at its roar. 

God of our fathers we trust in Thee : 

As with the fathers, so with the children be. 

Honor we still their faith and brave endeavor ; 

Cherish the walls their piety has reared ; 
We sail not on the ancient lines forever, 

Yet trust no less in God whom they revered. 

Our broader day with fresher light beholding. 
Changing the creed, but keeping firm the faith. 

Freely the ancient forms of thought remoulding. 
Asking what word today the spirit saith. 

We, from the tide-worn piers our ships unmooring, 

Afloat, but not adrift, upon the tide ; 
Dare truth's rough sea ; in faith our hearts assuring. 

Safe must he be who sails with God for guide. 

Then followed the historical address by Mr. Nathan N. With- 
ington. 

ADDRESS OF MR. NATHAN N. WITHINGTON. 

Why are we assembled on this occasion? and 
why at this particular time.? The answer to each of 
these questions is that we are gratifying a sentiment. 
We have come together with no purpose to consult 
for the welfare of our persons or estates, to devise 
no means by which the future may be made more 
prosperous for ourselves or our children, nor is it 
our aim to attain any material good whatever. We 
have come merely to express a sentiment of attach- 



ment and veneration for an edifice which is itself 
the material embodiment of a sentiment. 

Then as to the question of the time of this cele- 
bration, the date is fixed by sentimental considerations. 
It is a centennial. But what is it dignifies the lapse 
of an hundred years to our minds more than does the 
close of any other period? It is purely a sentiment. 

If we had been formed with four digits on each 
hand instead of five doubtless the hundred would 
be what we now call sixty-four, and this celebration 
would have been held in the year of the close of the 
civil war. Or if we had had twelve instead of ten 
fingers and thumbs the century would have been 
forty-four years longer than it is now. Sentiment, 
mere sentiment is the cause and has fixed the date 
of our celebration. 

But this truth instead of depreciating the import- 
ance elevates it to a higher plane. The most heroic 
lives are those devoted to, and the noblest deaths are 
those sacrificed for a worthy sentiment. The hearth 
and home, the temple in which fathers and mothers 
worshipped, are nothing but bricks and mortar, stone, 
wood, iron and glass except for the associations 
which cluster around them and sanctify them to us 
with memories of all that is dearest and most delight- 
ful to the heart of man. The flag of one's country 
is a mere strip of colored bunting not so useful for 
comfort as a blanket, and yet it typifies for us home, 
native land, friends and neighbors, good government, 
and all that makes life worth living, and men die by 
thousands and tens of thousands in battle on sea and 
land to keep that emblem fluttering in the breeze 
and raised above that of the flag of any enem}-. We 



marry for sentiment, we live by sentiment and if 
needs be we die to mantain our cherished sentiments. 

It is eminently fitting then that we should celebrate 
the centennial of the erection of this sacred edifice. 
Nor is it an irrational feeling to venerate its walls 
and pews, its pulpit and galleries and windows hal- 
lowed b}' the memories of the great and good men 
and women who have worshipped here, by the now 
silent voices of the eminent orators, clerical and lay, 
who have spoken from this desk, and by the many 
associations of this place with relatives beloved and 
friends gone before, which make it venerable as holy 
ground, while the friends to be met here from Sun- 
day to Sunday connect with the edifice some of our 
pleasantest associations of the present. 

It may be that the edifice without the sentiment 
attached to it, like a barn, is nothing but a building, 
and that a century is a mere arbitrary division of 
time, but I cannot help feeling a strong emotion at 
the thought that for more than half of that century 
this house was the place of worship for relatives and 
friends the dearest I have had, and it was with un- 
common pleasure that the invitation to speak here 
was accepted since interest in the subject might in 
some degree supply the inadequacy of the speaker. 
To many persons in this community similar associa- 
tions make this house a sacred edifice and the spot 
where it stands holy ground. So that the centennial 
of its dedication as a house of worship for our for- 
bears and ourselves is a true epoch, worthy of cele- 
bration with more than ordinary interest. 

When we look back an hundred years to the first 
opening of this house for public worship the first 

6 



aspect of the view is the enormous change which has 
come about in a period which has sometimes been 
covered by a human life, which in fact was covered 
by the life of one of the congregation which wor- 
shipped here at the time of the dedication. For one 
thing is the manifest fact that more than half the 
members of the society of one hundred years ago, 
though Americans, were born British subjects. 
Every one of them who was over twenty-five years 
and three months old had been a subject of George 
III, while all over forty-one were subjects of earlier 
British sovereigns, and three, at least, all widows, 
were born under Queen Anne. These were the 
widow Mary Thurlo, who was born in 1703, the sec- 
ond year of Anne's reign, and who lived to be one 
hundred years old, widow Mary Woodburn, born 
1706, and widow Rolfe, born 1707, whose Christian 
name is not given by Dr. Andrews in his parish rec- 
ord of deaths, which he gathered, but which are 
recorded in the hand of Mr. Cary, the senior pastor. 
Most of the congregation had called themselves 
English for a considerable time, and some of them 
for the greater part of their lives, while we are 
Americans, and probably there is not one here who 
would not have to go back as far as the grandfather 
at least to find an ancestor who was born a British 
subject on American soil. 

But if the congregation of that day was different 
in quality it was not less so in quantity. The list of 
pew holders in the old meeting house shows that 
every one with a single exception, perhaps, was the 
property of some individual member of the society, 
and from the fact that there was a sale of a pew from 



the proprietors to an individual at that time it is 
probable that there was no exception and that every 
pew was owned and occupied. In the new house 
also the condition appears to have been the same, 
though a considerable number had one pew on the 
floor and another in the gallery. So that there must 
have been many who hired seats. A full house was 
the rule in those days in all the places of worship in 
this Commonwealth and the decrease in numbers 
has certainly been no greater in this society than in 
the average. It is not strange nor difficult to explain 
why church attendance was so much more general 
in those days than it is in our own. During the first 
quarter of the last century the chief, and almost the 
soul intellectual and esthetic nourishment the vast 
majority of the people obtained was at the meeting 
house. Books were scarce, lyceums had not come into 
existence, the very few magazines were religious, or 
rather theological, newspapers were rare and came 
once a week with the president's address or some 
statesman's speech continued through three or four 
numbers, and news from Europe from a month to 
three months old. Men, and especially women, must 
have something to break up the monotony of every 
day life to make it tolerable. 

While there was this scarcity of intellectual fodder 
elsewhere the New England ministers were well 
educated, they communicated frequently with each 
other, and they knew more, not only of books, but of 
life and of what was going on in the country and in 
the world than did their congregations. In some re- 
spects they had advantages for knowledge of affairs 
of the world above the doctors, or even the mer- 

8 



chants or the lawyers. The meeting house in those 
days filled the places now occupied by the daily 
newspapers, with the latest news of the day and 
almost the hour from every part of the world; by 
the magazines by their discussions of all topics of 
human interest; by the lyceum, which came later; 
by the concert hall, the lecture room and even 
the theatre. On Thanksgiving and Fast days the 
preacher instructed his congregation on the great 
public question of the time and supplied the place 
now filled by the leading articles of the great 
newspapers. Thus everybody must go to meeting 
every Sunday and every Fast and Thanksgiving 
if he would keep up with the times and know 
as much as his neighbors, while now we feel as if we 
could stay away if the weather is very fine and in- 
vites to out of doors, or if it is a little unpleasant 
and a book or the Sunday newspaper attractive; or 
if relatives from out of town are visiting us; or, in 
short, if we do not feel quite in the mood from any 
reason whatever. 

At the time of the erection of this edifice there 
were two pastors of the society. Rev. Thomas Cary, 
the senior, after a service of nearly twenty-one years, 
and after the morning service of March 9th, 1788, 
was stricken with palsy and greatly disabled, so 
that on the loth of December of the same year 
Rev. John Andrews was ordained as his colleague. 
Each was a man of sound sense, sincere piety and 
love for the welfare of their people, but neither was 
a brilliant man in the pulpit. Each was respected in 
this community very highly, and some of us can re- 
member Dr. Andrews as a venerable figure, one of 



the last to appear upon the streets of the town in 
small clothes, silk stockings and silver buckled shoes, 
benign and dignified of aspect, and still vigorous at 
a great age. 

Among the names in the list of proprietors of 
pews during the first year after the erection of this 
house, as they appear in the records of the society, 
are some whose families still continue members 
thereof, (and I hear that three pews have remained 
in the same families since the house was built.) 
others whose descendants are residents of the city 
but have gone elsewhere to worship, and a consider- 
able number whose names have disappeared from 
our community. Among the last is that of Tracy. 
Patrick and Nathaniel Trac}' had been parishioners 
of Mr. Cary, but the only representative of the name 
in the list of the first pewholders was Nicholas Tracy. 
Theophilus Parsons does not appear as purchaser of 
a pew in the new house, having removed to Boston 
in 1800, though he was a parishioner up to the time 
that work on the new building had begun. A very 
large proportion, however of the men of light and 
leading of the town of that time were members of the 
First Religious Society, and their names are still re- 
membered with honor, though they have become 
somewhat dimmed b}^ the lapse of another quarter of a 
century since the late Mr. Amos Noyes pronounced 
the oration from this pulpit at the celebration of the 
one hundred and fiftietli anniversar}' of this society, 
and mentioned a few of the leading names of parish- 
ioners in 1 801. To his audience a greater number 
would respond to the sentiment associated with those 



names than could be hoped for now if I should re- 
peat them. 

The tirst movement for erecting a new meeting 
house to be found upon the records is dated Oct. 13th, 
1798, when on petition of Theophilus Parsons and 
others, a meeting of the proprietors was called for the 
19th of the same month, "ist; To see if the Propri- 
etors will conclude to build a new house of worship 
Tor said society." 

"2nd. To determine upon such measures as they 
shall think necessary for the building of said House, 
for purchasing land whereon to erect the same, for 
selling their present house of Public Worship and 
their land under and adjoining the same, and for all 
other purposes relating thereto, and also to choose 
such committees to make such estimates and reports 
relating to the premises as such committee may be 
impowered to make, and to receive and act upon 
such estimates and reports." 

At the meeting held under this call Hon. Theophi- 
lus Bradbury was chosen moderator, and it was voted 
to build at such time, on such ground and under such 
conditions as might afterward be agreed on, and 
James Prince, Theophilus Bradbury, Jr., and Oilman 
White were elected a committee "to enquire what 
suitable place or places may be obtained whereon to 
build a new meeting house and on what terms — and 
what sum may be obtained for the old meeting house 
and land under and adjoining the same provided a 
title with warranty be given by the proprietors." 

This meeting was adjourned without further pro- 
ceedings to Thursday 20th of December, when it 
was voted, "That Mr. Oilman White, Capt. James 

II 



Kettell and Mr. William Wyer, Jr., be a committee 
to apply to the several proprietors of the pews and 
obtain from such of them as are willing so to do, a 
subscription for one or more pews in a new Meeting 
House to be built by the Proprietors upon condition 
that the old meeting House and land under and ad- 
joining the same can be sold for three thousand 
Pounds at least, and provided the first offer thereof 
be made to the Town, but in case of the Town's 
refusal to purchase, then the same to be sold to any 
private person or persons who will purchase the 
same." The old site of the Meeting House was in 
Market Square. 

This was the last vote in the records, with one 
later exception, in which the old currency of pounds, 
shillings and pence is retained. Up to this time there 
is no other used where sums of money are recorded, 
but after this meeting dollars and cents appear, and 
the land was sold, the new lot bought and the work- 
men paid, and the material of the new house paid 
for in the currency which we use in the present day. 

At the same adjourned meeting the committee ap- 
pointed for the purpose reported that they could find 
no vote nor grant by which the proprietors came into 
possession of the land covered by the meetinghouse, 
but that quiet and peaceful possession thereof for 
more than sixty years had given a good, lawful and 
complete title thereto. But that the triangular piece 
of land adjoining the northwesterly side of the house 
was purchased by the proprietors of Jeremiah Pear- 
son, and others on the 21st day of August A. D. 
1765, as appeared by their deed of warranty, and the 
title was complete. 

12 



The meeting then adjourned to the second Thurs- 
day of April, next, 1799. But that adjourned meeting 
was never held, and if the present proprietors wish 
they can continue it even now, since it was never 
dissolved, though the moderator and clerk have long 
been dead. There was some hitch in sellins: the 
land on which the old house stood. The price voted, 
three thousand pounds, was equal to ten thousand 
dollars, and the town never to the last voted to ap- 
propriate one-half that sum for the purpose, and 
finally the amount for which it was sold was made 
up by subscription of liberal and wealthy citizens. 

Before the date to which this meetino- was ad- 
journed, the annual meeting for choosing officers was 
held on Friday, 5th April 1799, when it was voted to 
repair the old house at an expense not to exceed one 
hundred dollars, and the same amount was allowed 
for repairs at the annual meeting in April 1800. 
This was on the 4th of the month, but in less than 
three weeks, at a meeting called on petition of Theo- 
philus Parsons and others, the subject of considera- 
tion was the sale of the old lot and house, and the pur- 
chase of a new site, and the erection of a new house. 

At this meeting held April 24th, 1800, William 
Wyer, moderator, it was voted to sell the old house 
and land, on Market Square, reserving the cellar wall 
and underpinning, the materials of which the pews 
are built, the bell, clock, organ, electrical rod and 
weather cock. Capt. James Kettell, Oilman White 
and Theophilus Bradbury, Jr. were chosen a com- 
mittee with powers to make the sale as they should 
deem best for the interests of "This Proprietary" 
with the provision that they should first offer the 

13 



premises to the inhabitants of the Town of New- 
buryport for the sum of eight thousand dollars. 
They were furthur authorized to convey b}' deed, 
and directed to take security for payment of the 
price set, and that the society "may continue to 
occupy the premises as a place for public worship 
for a reasonable time not exceeding two years, that 
they may in the mean time be accommodated with a 
new meeting house." 

Mr. Leonard Smith, Charles Bradbury, Jr. and 
Mr. Charles Jackson were chosen a committee to 
ascertain and locate the triangular piece of land 
on which the old meeting house stood with the 
selectmen of the town, if they would assist, and if 
not, without them with their own best skill and 
judgment, and to report at an adjourned or future 
meeting. 

The record goes on, "In pursuance of the laudable 
practice of our pious predecessors, and in imitation 
of their wise and virtuous attachment to the best 
Interests of man Illustrated by the foundation of this 
Parish, by the erecting a house for the public wor- 
ship of God, and by their honorable support of the 
teachers of piety, religion and Morality — It is" 

"Voted, That this propriety will erect a new Meet- 
ing House as a Place of Public worship for the First 
Religious Society of Newburyport on some suitable 
Plat of ground to be hereafter purchased for that 
purpose and it is further" 

"Voted, That Messrs. Ebenezer Stocker, Nathan 
Hoyt and Joshua Carter be a committee for providing 
said place of Public Worship, and for this purpose 
they and the major part of them are hereby author- 

H 



ized and empowered at the cost of this Propriet}' to 
purchase such parcel of land as this Propriety may 
hereafter direct, and thereupon to build, finish and 
compleat a Meeting House of such materials and of 
such form, in such manner and of such dimensions as 
this propriety may direct" on the best contracts they 
can obtain, working in the materials of the old house 
which were reserved, and that purchasers of pews 
might contribute labor or materials in part payment 
for the same. 

It was also voted that the pews in the new house 
should be sold by public auction, except one to be 
reserved for the minister. 

The committee was empowered to hire money on 
the credit and guarant}^ of the propriety for the pur- 
chase of land and for building contracts "confiding in 
their discretion that they will hire no more money 
than will be neccessary, nor at any time before it 
may be wanted. And to secure the committee 
the whole proceeds of the sale of the old meeting 
house and the land under and adjoining was pledged 
and mortgaged to them, and also the proceeds trom 
the sale of pews in the new house, they to pay over 
to the treasurer any balance which might be left 
after the house was completed. 

Hon'ble Theophilus Bradbury, Esq., Capt. James 
Kettell and Mr. Leonard Smith were chosen a com- 
mittee "to enquire for a Plat of ground suitable for 
the erecting a new meeting House thereon by this 
propriety, and to report a plan thereof with the 
terms on which the same may be purchased at the 
next or some future adjournment or meeting of this 
Propriety." The same gentlemen were also ap- 



pointed a committee to draw a plan and make 
estimates of the probable cost whether the walls 
were to be of brick or wood to report at a future 
meetinof. And as there were doubts as to the 
legality of all these proceedings, Theophilus Parsons, 
Esq., was chosen a committee to apply to the legis- 
lature for an act legalizing the doings and granting 
the powers necessary to proceed with the work. The 
meeting was then adjourned to the 22nd of May next. 
While the month elapses for which the adjourn- 
ment is made we have a breathing place to remark 
upon a matter of phraseology in these records. 
There are several such which mark the difference of 
usage which a century has brought about, as, "the 
Hon. Theophilus Bradbury, Esq.," a superfluity of 
titles which would be ridiculous now, but was ordi- 
nary courtesy at that time ; but the special point to 
be made here is, that throughout all these old docu- 
ments the phrase "meeting house" is used and never 
"church" or "church edifice." In England at the 
present time it is only the houses of worship of the 
established church of England which are called 
"churches," while those of dissenters are called 
"chapels." But the Puritans and the Quakers did not 
esteem any building as sacred. The New England 
Meeting House was not only the place where the 
fathers assembled for worship, it was the place of 
business of the plantation, where the selectmen, the 
constables and the militia officers were chosen by the 
freemen. The only church was the whole number 
of the faithful who had united for the service of God 
with no acknowledged leader, priest or prelate, but 
only Christ, and who chose their own minister, and 

16 



in the choice no outsider, clerical or lay, was allowed 
to dictate, or to have any voice. The building where 
they worshipped was merely the meeting house, and 
to attribute to it any more sanctity than attached to 
the dwelling house, would have seemed to the old 
Puritans to savor of idolatry. As late as one hundred 
years ago we sometimes hear the edifice spoken of 
as ''the House of God," but the old Puritan logic had 
given way very largely at that time, though they had 
not yet learned so to imitate the Church of England 
and the Roman Catholics as to call the New England 
meeting house a church. That ultra Protestants, 
such as the Unitarians are, should call their place of 
gathering a church, has a touch of the ludicrous. 

At the adjourned meeting of the Proprietors on 
May 22d 1800 the vote to sell the pews in the new 
house at public auction was reconsidered, and it was 
voted "that as many of the pews of the new meet- 
ing house as are equal in number to the pews owned 
by individual proprietors in the old Meeting House 
shall by a committee to be chosen by this Propriety 
and sworn for that purpose be divided into three 
Classes and appraised according to their comparative 
values, and that the Pews of each Class be divided 
among the Proprietors of like Class of Pews in the 
old Meeting House by lot, that the whole cost of 
building and furnishing the new Meeting House be 
apportioned upon the said Pews according to the said 
comparative values, and that the monies arising from 
the sale of the old Meeting House and Land be car- 
ried to the credit of said Pews in the same propor- 
tion, and that the Balance due from each Pew shall 
be paid by the Proprietor to whom such Pew shall 

17 3 



be drawn within thirty days from the time of draw- 
ing the same, who shall then receive a deed thereof; 
but if any Proprietor shall refuse or neglect to pay 
the said Balance within the said time, then the Pew 
drawn to him shall be sold at Public Auction, and 
the sum at which the Pew of such Proprietor in the 
old Meeting House was last appraised at (if so much 
shall be received from the Sale) shall be paid to 
such Proprietor, and the Remainder, if any, shall be- 
long to this Propriety — and that the several Balances 
remaining due from the said Pews shall be, and the 
same are, hereby pledged to the committee for build- 
ing the said Meeting House as an Indemnity as 
aforesaid, and that the General Court be requested 
to confirm the aforegoing vote." 

It was also voted that the committee chosen before 
the adjournment and composed of "Messrs. Eben- 
ezer Stocker, Nathan Hoyt and Joshua Carter be, 
and they hereby are, directed to purchase of Miss 
Elizabeth Greenleaf a lot of land adjoining on Pleas- 
ant street in said Newburyport, nine rods in front 
and nine rods and thirteen links in depth, containing 
about eighty-two rods, commonly called the Rock 
Lot, on the best terms they can obtain not exceeding 
six pounds fifteen shillings c'rry. per Rod." 

"Voted. That the walls of the new Meeting House 
be built of wood." The meeting was then ad- 
journed to Thursday the 5th of June. 

Meanwhile before the date to which this meeting 
was adjourned the committee had prepared a plan 
which was to be carried out as you now see it in the 
edifice where we are assembled. Who drew the 
plan? The vote of the proprietors attributes it to the 

18 



committee, but it is not probable that three men 
would design and draw a plan for a building'of such 
importance, but naturally they would intrust it to 
some one person. Architects of taste and skill were 
hardly to be found in our country after we had cut 
ourselves off from English artists who had designed 
many of the old Colonial mansions, and the effect 
.was noticeable in the distinct falling off in the beauty 
of American architecture which befell upon the 
declaration of Independence. But this edifice gives 
no indication of such decline of taste and ability to 
construct forms of architectural beauty. It is still 
visited and admired by many who have the culture 
and knowledge of the art to judge, and it is an ex- 
ception to the plain and often hideous structures of 
the period; whose is the credit? 

Tradition says it was designed by Timothy Palmer, 
and it is very probable that tradition tells us the truth 
in so far as it informs us that he drew the plan, 
though the design is not original, being that of an 
English church. But there is nothing in the records 
to show that Timothy Palmer was employed, or that 
he was paid any money for any service whatever. 
There is a long account of all the expenditures on 
the building, the first item of which is "July 1 1, 1800, 
To cash paid, liquor for people getting out stones," 
but nowhere is there record of payment to the trad- 
itional architect, though the largest bill for labor is 
that of Palmer & Spofl^ord, butthe first name of the 
firm was Andros Palmer, as appears in some of the 
charges, this firm apparently having been the con- 
tractors for the carpenter work. Andros Palmer and 
Timothy Palmer were brothers, so that it is not im- 

19 



probable that Timothy made the plan though there is 
no record of his receiving money for the work. 

At the adjournment on June 5th the vote to re- 
serve the cellar walls and the material of which the 
pews were built in the sale of the old Meeting House 
was reconsidered and the plan presented by the com- 
mittee was adopted. John Greenleaf was added to 
the committee and they were directed to proceed 
with the building, "agreeable to said Plan, with a 
cellar under it and a handsome Belfry and Spire and 
Porticoes or Piazza," with such alterations not mater- 
ially variant from the plan in dimensions or other- 
wise. The assessors were directed to make out a 
list of the pews on floor and gallery of the Old 
House with the numbers, the classes, the valuation 
and names of the proprietors, and to file the same 
with the Proprietors' clerk. The meeting then dis- 
solved. 

One week from the date of this last adjourned 
meeting, on June 12th, the business committed to 
Judge Theophilus Parsons was completed, and the 
General Court passed a special act legalizing the 
votes and doings of the First Religious Society in 
Newburyport. Work was promptly begun, the first 
payment, that for liquor for the men getting out 
the stones bearing date July 11. 

On the date when the act was passed legalizing 
the doings of the Propriety, a meeting was called on 
petition of Wm. Wyer and others to consider "if the 
Proprietors will sell their land under and adjoining 
their Meeting House to the Town for the sum of 
eight thousand dollars provided the present purchas- 
ers will release their claim to the purchase. The 

20 



meeting was held on the 17th of July, and the record 
declares that "Whereas the Town of Newburyport 
at their legal meeting on the loth day of July current 
voted to raise the sum of forty-four hundred dollars 
for the purpose of purchasing of the First Religious 
Society in this Town the land under and adjoining 
their Meeting House and authorized their Treasurer 
to hire the money for said Purchase, if necessary, 
and appointed the Selectmen a committee to make 
such purchase if practicable, but not to exceed forty- 
four hundred dollars," it was voted to sell for eight 
thousand dollars, "and Messrs. Ebenezer Stocker, 
Joshua Carter and John Greenleaf are hereby chosen 
a committee on the part of the said Proprietors to 
receive of the Treasurer of said Town the sum they 
have voted to pay as above, or security for the same, 
and also the sums subscribed by sundry Inhabitants 
of the Town sufficient to compleat the said sum of 
eight thousand dollars" and empowering them to 
make the conveyance to the Town, reserving the 
right of keeping the house on the land "for the pur- 
pose of Publick Worship therein untill the first day 
of November A. D. 1800 and a Reasonable time 
afterward, to remove the same with the cellar wall 
and all appurtenances, provided further that the per- 
sons who lately Bid off the said House and Land at 
vendue agree to relinquish their Purchase." 

"The Inhabitants of the Town," referred to as hav- 
ing subscribed to make up the sum demanded for 
the land had contributed the $3600, which, with 
$4400 voted by the town, made up the sum of 
$8000, and the transaction was completed and the 
place thereof received the name of "Market Square" 



which it bears at the present time. The weather- 
cock and bell were reserved and transferred to the 
new meeting house, the proprietors having voted 
against a proposition to sell the old bell and buy a 
new one. 

At a proprietors' meeting held on the 15th of July 
1800 James Kettell, Henry Hudson and William 
Wyer, Jr., their assessors, were directed to make out 
a list of the pews of floor and gallery in the old 
house, with the valuation of each pew, as a basis for 
estimating the claim of each proprietor to the pro- 
ceeds of the sale. A committee was also chosen 
consisting of Joshua Carter, Ebenezer Stocker, 
Nathan Hoyt, Michael Hodge, Israel Young, John 
Greenleaf and Hon. Theophilus Bradbury " to esti- 
mate the cost of their new house of Public worship 
now in Building and the lot it stands on, and to 
apportion the same upon all the pews therein except- 
ing such as may be reserved for the use of the min- 
ister according to their Relative situations on the 
lower Floor and in the Galleries respectively, which 
apportionment shall be considered as their prime 
cost, and they shall lodge such estimate and appor- 
tionment with the proprietors' clerk to be filed in his 
office and to be recorded in the Proprietors' Book of 
Records, and all taxes hereafter to be raised on said 
pews by said Proprietors or by said Religious Society 
shall be assessed thereon agreeably to said appor- 
tionment. Votes were passed prescribing in minute 
detail how the apportionment of the proceeds of the 
sale and the expense of the new building and ground 
should be made, the important point being that, in- 
stead of the pews in the new house being assigned 



22 



by lot, as the act of legislature provided, it was de- 
cided that they should be sold at auction to the high- 
est bidder at not less than the estimated prime cost. 

The lists directed to be prepared at this meeting 
appear in the records. That relating to the old 
meeting house shows that every pew on the floor 
was private property except that of the minister. 
Those of the floor numbered io6, the same as in the 
new house, and they were divided into six classes, the 
first class valued at $30, the second at $24, the third 
at $23, the fourth at $22, the fifth at $21, the sixth 
at $20. The gallery pews were all but two of the 
same appraisal, $7, one being valued at $10, and 
one $6. One gallery pew had no individual owner. 

On the 10th day of August and the 5th of October, 
1801, the pews in the new house were sold at 
auction. Those on the floor were divided into five 
classes, and the prime cost of those of the first class 
was $165, and of the lower classes respectively $145, 
$135, $120, and $100. Those of the lowest class 
mostly brought their appraised value, though Henry 
Rolfe paid $116 for one. The pews of the first 
class sold well, the highest price, $230, having been 
paid by John Greenleaf for pew No. 12, and he also 
paid $221 for pew No. 11. All the pews on the 
floor except the minister's pew and one other were 
sold at the valuation or more, and all in the gallery 
except three. 

The final account, audited by '*Seth Sweetser, 
attorney for Ebnr. Stocker," shows the whole cost of 
the building to have been $26,750.10. The chief 
payments are to Palmer & Spofford, Ambrose 
Palmer and Daniel Spoflford, though the name of the 

23 



former is given in the account sometimes "Andrews" 
and at others "Andrew." The window frames were 
furnished by Newmarch & Caldwell. 

At a proprietors' meeting on the 21st Sept. 1801, 
it was voted to purchase an additional lot of land to 
the northwest of that on which the new house stood, 
and also to sell the old bell and buy a new one. At 
a subsequent meeting it was decided to take no 
further steps in these matters. The accounts of the 
committee were accepted, and they were thanked for 
their services. But for some reason the money re- 
ceived had not covered all the expense of the build- 
ing, and at a meeting on Dec. 23rd, 1802, it was 
"Voted that the sum of fifteen hundred dollars be 
raised by the proprietors to balance the accounts for 
building the new house and that said sum be assessed 
upon the pews in said house according to the valua- 
tion thereof by the Parish Assessors." At this meet- 
ing and for the two years succeeding Michael Hodge 
was the proprietors' clerk. Inasmuch as the new 
meeting house was not paid for by $1500 for more 
than a year after its occupancy, according to the 
Roman Catholic rule our centennial celebration 
should come some time in 1903, a hundred years 
from the date when these taxes were paid. 

The last sermon preached in the old meeting house 
was delivered by Mr. Cary, the senior pastor, on 
Sunday, September 27th, 1801, and the next day the 
house was demolished. The first sermon preached 
in that house was in June 1725 by Rev. John Tufts, 
pastor of the second parish in Newbury, now the 
first, or lower parish in West Newbury. 

Mr. Andrews preached the sermon dedicating this 

24 



house, as appears by record in his own handwriting 
in possession at present of his grand-daughter, Miss 
Emily R. Andrews, a resident of the city and mem- 
ber of this religious Society. 

It is a fact worthy of remark that in the seventy- 
six years of the existence of the First Religious 
Society before this meeting house was built, there 
were but three pastors, and of these one remained 
seven years later, Mr. Gary, the senior pastor having 
died in 1808, while Mr. Andrews did not retire from 
the pastorate for nearly twenty-nine years, in 1830. 
Since the latter date, without counting the years 
when Dr. Andrews held the senior pastorate until his 
death in 1845, there have been nine pastors settled 
over this Society besides several who have supplied 
the pulpit during periods when there was no settled 
minister. 

At the time this meeting house was dedicated the 
relations of the church with the other congregational 
churches was cordial and pleasant, notwithstanding 
theological differences which prevailed. When 
one-third of the church seceded after the death of 
Mr. Lowell and the call to Mr. Gary and formed 
the North church, the Arminian and Galvinist schism 
caused no apparent bitterness of feeling, since half 
the silver communion service was given to the Gal- 
vinists who left, and the First Religious Society of 
Newburyport was recognized by the neighboring 
congregational churches as a sister church for three- 
quarters of a century thereafter. At the ordination 
of Mr. Andrews on December loth, 1788, Dr. 
Tucker, minister of the First Ghurch in Newbury, 
gave the Right Hand of Fellowship. Deacon New- 

»5 4 



man, Dr. Newman and Mr. Emerson were chosen 
by this church as delegates and they attended the 
ordination of Mr. Abraham Moor as pastor of the 
First Church in Newbury in the spring of 1796. 
Deacons Farnham and Abbot were sent as deleg^ates 
when Rev. John S. Popkin was installed over the 
same church, in September, 1804, and Dr. Andrews 
took part in the ordination of Mr. Leonard Withing- 
ton, Dr. Popkin's successor, in October, 1816, and 
Dr. Prescott was delegate on that occasion. In his 
last sermon preached in the old meeting house of the 
First Parish in Newbury before it was taken down 
preparatory to the erection of the house which was 
burned in 1868, Rev. John S. Popkin, D. D., the 
pastor said: "One of her daughters, who has ever 
peserved a kind affection, is now ready to receive 
her to her kindly bosom, while she renews her out- 
ward tabernacle. Another church has exhibited 
a similar benevolence. For the favor which they 
show her we wish them favor from the Lord." The 
daughter was this Religious Society, whose offer 
was accepted, and the First Parish in Newbury wor- 
shiped in this house until their "Outward tabernacle 
was renewed," September 17th, 1806. The other 
church referred to was St. Paul's Episcopal church 
in this town. As late as the close of Dr. Andrews' 
active pastorate there seems to have been a not 
uncordial exchange of pulpits with the neighboring 
Congregational churches, and in 1823, Rev. Samuel 
P. Williams, minister of the First Presbyterian 
church preached from this pulpit, though not with 
approval of his doctrines by the congregation. 



26 



The marked separation came with the settlement 
of Thomas B. Fox as minister of this Society, who 
was ordained August 3rd, 1831, This was tlie first 
occasion on which the pastor of the old First Parish 
church ofNewbury declined to recognize this Society 
as in regular standing. It was the custom of that 
time to invite the ministers of neighboring Presby- 
terian churches to council and ordinations of the 
Congregational church. Accordingly Dr. Dana and 
Mr. Cheever were invited to take part in this exer- 
cise, but they politely declined, as did Mr. Withing- 
ton of the First and Mr. Miltimore of the Belleville 
parishes in Newbury, Mr. Dimmick and Mr. Milton 
of the Congregational churches in Newburyport. 

Now what caused this tinal declaration of hostil- 
ities between mother, daughter and sister churches 
toward this daughter, mother and elder sister? Mr. 
Noyes, in his oration at the centennial of the First 
Religious Society in October 1876, attributes it to 
the fact that Mr. Fox was the first minister ordained 
here when the church was so generally known as 
Unitarian. But on this point I think that I had better 
opportunities for judging than Mr. Noyes had from 
the fact that my boyhood up to sixteen years of age 
was about equally passed in the orthodox family of 
my father and the Unitarian family of my maternal 
grandparents, with the opportunity of hearing and 
judging the merits and defects of the positon of 
either party. And it is probably true that youth of 
that age are more impartial judges in such a case than 
are older people of more fixed opinions and deeper 
rooted prejudices. 



27 



It seems to me that this growing difference in the 
religious world was not so much theological as it 
was in the attitude of either party toward the life 
which now is. Theological disputes between ortho- 
dox theorists were fully as bitter, if not more acri- 
monious, than those between the orthodox and Unita- 
rian. But the orthodox retained a great deal of the 
old Puritan contempt for the graces and beauties of 
life. It was wrong to read almost any novel except 
the Pilgrim's Progress. With many it was wrong to 
dance, and with all it was a deadly sin to play a 
game of cards or to attend a play at the theatre. 
The Unitarians had sloughed off these prejudices 
with the Calvinistic creed. They cultivated the 
graceful and the beautiful, and the chief objection to 
Mr. Fox which I heard from my orthodox friends 
was, that instead of preaching against the exceeding 
sinfulness of sin and the awful doom of the sinner in 
a future state, he preached of the beauty of the 
flowers, the glory of the sunset, and the loveliness of 
the universe in which we dwell. This was horrid 
in the eyes of conservative people, the joys of whose 
traditional religion consisted in contemplating the 
tortures reserved for their unregenerate neighbors in 
another world. 

That the view I have taken of the cause of the 
division between orthodox and Unitarian is the true 
one is further manifest from a fact which some 
others will remember and confirm. Mr. Fox in- 
troduced here the custom of decorating with flowers 
the parts of the meeting house about the pulpit. 
Such a commotion as this very innocent proceeding 
raised in this community can hardly be conceived as 

28 



possible b}' the present generation. If he had 
preached that the divine nature was four in one, and 
that Satan was the fourth person of the quaternity 
of the godhead, he would not have raised greater 
opposition, since the notion would not have been 
wholly alien to the old theology. But flowers on the 
communion table were desecration, idolatry, the 
compliments of the Scarlet woman announcing her 
imminent arrival, the abomination of desolation 
spoken of by Daniel, the prophet. Mr. Dimmick 
preached at the North Church a denunciatory ser- 
mon upon this idolatrous desecration of the Hoiise of 
God, little foreseeing that within a generation his 
own pulpit and communion table would be so de- 
corated, and not desecrated, with full approval of the 
pastor who should succeed him. 

The feeling hostile to floral decoration of the 
meeting house continued among older people of 
orthodox churches until quite recently. Within 
fifteen years one of the oldest members of the By- 
field church was horrified at the floral decoration of 
the communion table one Sunday morning, and to ex- 
press his disapproval in the afternoon he attended 
meeting at the First Parish, where he was grieved 
and disappointed at finding a more profuse display of 
flowers than he had seen in the morning. He mourned 
over the popish innovation to his unsympathetic 
friends. 

But whether I am right or wrong in the diagnosis 
of the cause of the division in the Congregational 
church which separated the orthodox from the 
Unitarian, it is not to be disputed that it is easier to 
divide men than to unite them. The causes of divis- 

29 



ion, whatever they may have been have, now become 
faint as the morning mist which the heat of the rising 
sun has so dispelled that it can scarcely be perceived. 
If it be a difference of doctrine, theology has hardly 
any place in the New England pulpit except, per- 
haps, in remote rural districts. The Unitarian would 
find very little that was offensive in the preaching 
of his neighbors, and the so-called orthodox could 
listen with complacency to the preaching of this de- 
nomination except that he might smile occasionally 
at the obsoleteness of attacks upon dogmas of his 
ancestors which are dead as the bullrushes round 
little Moses down by the banks of the Nile. 

Or if the continued separation be from the cause 
which I have suggested, that, too, has vanished like 
a bad dream when one wakens to the morning sun- 
light. We, orthodox, decorate our pulpits and com- 
munion tables with flowers with never the slightest 
thrill of apprehension that the Pope will be peering 
out from among their petals, with Satan looking over 
his shoulder ready to devour those who have de- 
corated a sacrifice to himself. 

There has been a very great change in the 
religious world even in the brief period of twenty- 
five years since you celebrated the one hundred and 
fiftieth anniversary of the First Religious Society. 
On that occasion the orator had a great deal to say 
about "Arians" and "Arminians" and "Calvinists" 
and "Unitarians," and the audience was interested, and 
the public which read the oration was interested. But 
I suspect that these names would have little meaning 
to the pupil of the Sunday School, or indeed, to the 
teachers of this or of the other Sunday Schools of 

30 



the city. Even if they were explained to them, they 
would probably wonder what all this metaphysical 
speculation had to do with religion. My conviction 
in the reality of the great change in this respect 
within the last quarter of a century is confirmed by 
two facts of personal experience. One of these 
was that the ladies of the Women's Alliance of this 
society received with seeming, and on the part of 
some of them, with expressed approval, a statement 
of my belief that it was of no more religious im- 
portance whether one was a Trinitarian or a Uni- 
tarian, than it was what were his views as to the cube 
root. The other indication is that within a very few 
years a suspension for heresy from the First Church 
in Newbury was taken off and I was restored to 
regular standing with the distinct statement to the 
church that I did not believe the creed, and had not 
the intellectual capacity to understand its statements. 
But there is no need to enlarge on this matter. 
We have only been considering the local signs of a 
change which has been general throughout Christ- 
endom, nay, throughout the world. The liberal- 
izing of religious thought was manifested in 
the parliament of religions, which would have 
been impossible in the early part of the century. It 
has been apparent in the recent history of Andover 
Theological Seminary, in the heresy trials in the 
Presbyterian denomination, and in the proposal now 
pending to revise the creed of that church in the 
United States. The lines which separate the ortho- 
dox from the Unitarian part of the Congregational 
societies are scarcely more than mere shadows of 



31 



old prejudices, while in doctrine and in life they are 
not worth contestins^. 

In America the leading religious denomination in 
this liberalizing tendency may justly be claimed by 
you to be your own, and what is true of the country 
at large in this leadership is locally true of the First 
Religious Society. When I read the names of its 
members in the records from those in Mr. Lowell's 
time down to that of Caleb Gushing, who was clerk 
of the proprietors from 1826 to 1828 inclusive, not 
to mention later and living men, there has been a 
succession of men of light and leading of Newbury- 
port members of this Religious Society. Mr. Fox 
himself was of a character and intellect to stir up the 
dr}^ bones, as appears from the incident mentioned, 
and he displayed the same quality in public matters 
not specially connected with his church, and most 
prominently in educational concerns, both in the 
public schools of the town and in Dummer Academy. 
There have been able and active men occupying this 
pulpit and these pews, as there were also in the old 
meeting house. 

*Of the pastors since the edifice was built, all were 
known to me by sight, and with all but Dr. Andrews 
and Mr. Bowen I was more or less acquainted. I 
have heard man}^ able and impressive, many thought- 
ful and eloquent sermons, but one of the three great 
discourses from the pulpit which it has been my good 
fortune to hear was from this place by Samuel Long- 
fellow. All the pastors have been of high aims and 
character, and several of them men whose ability 
has won for them more than a local reputation. 
Following Mr. Fox after an interval of a year and 

32 



a half Thomas Wenthworth Higginson was ordained 
here Sept. 15th, 1847, and he resigned Sept. i6th, 
1849. The ordination sermon was preached by Rev. 
Wm. Henry Channing and in his Memoir of Mr. 
Channing, Octavius Brooks Frothingham makes this 
statement, — "On the 25th of September, 1847, he 
delivered the sermon 'The Gospel of Today' at the 
ordination of his cousin, T. W. Higginson, as minis- 
ter of The First Religious Society in Newburyport, 
Mass. This discourse was greatly admired, written 
out and printed. It was certainly brilliant, compre- 
hensive, lofty, humane; but it is hard to analyze an 
aroma. Light is diffusive. There were deep things 
in it, flashes of genius, but unless the whole were 
printed no just idea of it could be given." 

This characterization of Mr. Channing's ordina- 
tion sermon is very different from what could be 
made of the sermons and writings of his cousin. 
Mr. Higginson's productions have indeed the illumin- 
ation of brilliant talent, but the theme of his dis- 
courses is always definite and can be put into definite 
propositions. He is a man of earnest convictions 
and distinct aims of which he is entirely conscious 
and makes his hearer or reader so thoroughly im- 
pressed that he will remember. 

At the time of Mr. Higginson's ministry the 
slavery agitation was at flood tide, covering all theo- 
logical questions and submerging all other political 
topics. People were as sharply divided as they 
could have been by personal animosities, and ser- 
mons on this subject were fiercely criticised and as 
fiercely defended. Newburyport was very conser- 
vative on the slavery question, and Mr. Higginson 

33 



was just as radical. The elements of dissension 
between minister and people wrought so powerfully 
that the relation would probably have been dissolved 
even if he had attained the high reputation which he 
holds in his old age, and it must be remembered that 
he was then a young man and this was his first en- 
trance on the ministry. Mr. Higginson's connection 
with this society was broken Sept. i6, 1849, two 
years and a day from the date of his ordination. 
He retained his residence in Newburyport for several 
years thereafter, interesting himself in politics, in 
which the chief question was the one nearest his 
heart, and in 1850 was the candiate for Congress 
from this district on nomination of the Free Soil 
Party. The animosities of those days are forgotten, 
and a few years after we all became as ardent aboli- 
tionists as Mr. Higginson and helped brush away for- 
ever the chief cause of differences between him and 
this people. 

Since the retirement of Mr. Higginson there has 
been no such commotion in the affairs of the society 
as to demand comment, although outside the country 
and the world have been agitated and revolutionized. 
During the years preceding the civil war, while 
that war was in progress, and since, there have been 
no more dissensions here than is inevitable in all 
human relations, none that calls for particular re- 
mark or remembrance. Following Mr. Higginson 
there was a little more than a year when the society 
was without a pastor. On November 29th, 1850, 
Rev. Charles J. Bowen, a conservative and strong 
contrast to his predecessor, was installed, and his 
resignation took effect June loth, 1853. Rev. 

34 



Robert C. Watterson, of Boston, supplied the pulpit 
for a year and a half, and on September 3, 1857, 
Rev. Artemas B. Muzzey was installed, remaining 
until the first of November, 1 864. From that time 
until July, 1868, Samuel Longfellow and Rev. G. R. 
Calthrop preached as stated supply, when Rev. 
Joseph May accepted a call and was pastor until he 
was succeeded by Rev. Geo. L. Stowell from 1877 
to 1879, Rev. D. W, Morehouse from 1881 to 1887, 
and in 1888 Rev. Dr. Beane was installed, and may 
it be long before we can supply the terminal date. 

During the pastorate of Mr. Fox the present organ 
was built by Joseph Alley, a man of remarkable 
musical genius of Newburyport. It replaced the 
original instrument, and was long considered the 
finest in this vicinity until a few years ago it was 
getting disorganized, but was repaired so that its 
tones are more charming than ever. 

In Mr. Sto well's time Fraternity' Hall was erected 
on the society's grounds and it is just completing 
repairs and great and needed improvements. 

The meeting house was repaired, painted without 
and within and made to renew its youthful splendor 
while Mr. Morehouse was minister, and a new iron 
fence has been recently put up by the liberality of 
Mrs. Wm. O. Moseley, Mrs. Moses H. Fowler and 
Mr. Wm. H. Swasey to replace the iron fence which 
was the gift of Mr. Swasey, by whom also were the 
tablets presented which you see on these walls. 

This pulpit, from which a great number of able 
and devoted, and many eminent, ministers have pro- 
claimed the glad tidings, has also been occupied by 
statesmen and lay orators on secular occasions. 

35 



Such eminent men as John Quincy Adams and Caleb 
Cushing have been heard here within the memory of 
living persons, while Mr. Noyes's centennial oration 
was heard by man}^ and Mr. Northend's tribute to 
Col. E. F. Stone might have been listened to by all 
but the youngest. This house was not infrequently 
used on public occasions, because it was so central 
and had so large a seating capacity when public halls 
were few and incommodious. Probabl}/ none in this 
part of the country of the religious edifices has held 
so many and such numerous audiences as the meet- 
ing house of the First Religious Society. 

. And now it has stood a hundred years, and its re- 
cord is thus imperfectly told. In looking back over 
a century the most impressive fact is the changes 
which have occurred during the period. But here in 
its aspect the house has suffered less of change than 
any of its neighbors. You still have the gallery, the 
pews, the high pulpit, and the curtain behind, which 
I used to imagine was the curtain to the temple which 
concealed the Holy of Holies. The chief anach- 
ronism that Chief Justice Parsons, or the Hon. 
Theophilus Bradbury, Esq., or Mr. Joshua Carter 
would notice if they could return to their old pews, 
would be the gas fittings, which the}' would espec- 
ially notice if it were evening and the gas should be 
lighted. The house is all the more venerable for 
the aspect of moderate antiquity, and long may it be 
before it is modernized by so-called improvements. 

The old worthies mentioned, members as they 
were of the most liberal religious society in this 
community, would doubtless be most astonished at 
the change in fundamental ideas which have created 

36 



a revolution in philosophy, in religion and science 
and in education chiefly within the last quarter of a 
century. 

Mostly when the changes of the last hundred 
years are discussed reference is had to material 
things, the inventions which have added to comfort 
and revolutionized industry, or to the abolition of 
slavery, the civil war and the new imperialism. But 
greater than these because touching the character and 
aspirations of man, is the more silent revolution of 
ideas. In no human interest has there been greater 
change than in that for which this house stands. 
When it was built the generally accepted meaning 
of the word "religion" was the acceptance of a meta- 
physical system. It was commonly believed that 
the inspiration of the Almighty which giveth man 
understanding had dried up at the death of St. John, 
a cistern which became exhausted at that time, in- 
stead of a well-spring of life which flows as abund- 
antly now as it did in the days of the Hebrew 
prophets and psalmists, as if the Divine had ex- 
hausted his infinity with the single effort of produc- 
ing the Bible. Even John Robinson, in the often 
quoted saying about further light, announces it as 
to stream fourth from the Word, which he con- 
sidered final and complete. And notwithstanding 
the distinct declaration of this infallible Book, that 
"the letter killeth and the Spirit giveth life," they 
made of its oriental imagery an Anglo-Saxon system 
of dogma. The history of the most spiritual religion 
the world has developed was turned into a code 
which would have amazed the inspired writers and 
the persons of their story. The preaching was as 

37 



dismal as the creed, and one of my friends of the 
old time orthodoxy, one of the few of the scattered 
remnant left, tells me that if he should preach one of 
Jonathan Edwards's sermons, even his hearers would, 
he thinks, stone him out of his pulpit. 

There has been no greater, no more fundamental 
change than in this respect, and in the vanguard of 
the army of progress among religious organizations 
has been your denomination from the time when it 
was stigmatized as Arminian to the present hour, 
when it can hardly be discriminated from its sisters 
which claim to be orthodox. This house, the most 
beautiful in its architectural aspect of any in this re- 
gion, has also stood for the most beautiful ideas, 
for free thought and free expression of thought, for 
the superiority of character to creed, for a revelation 
too abundant to be confined to the words of an}^ book, 
and for the truth that there is a divine spark in man, 
that he is not wholly depraved, but that the good in 
him may be developed, and probably will be, and he 
saved. 

It has been a wonderful century upon which we 
have looked back, and the house which the fathers 
built still is fresh and fair, and may last to the close 
of the twentieth century when a generation having 
the benefit of a longer experience will look back 
with much the same feeling upon us as we entertain 
toward the builders, and will celebrate the two hun- 
dredth anniversary of the meeting house of the 
First Religious Society in Newburyport. We send 
down our greetings to you, friends of one hundred 
years hence, nor ask for present response. 



38 



The following original hymn by Ralph Tracy Hale was sung 
by the congregation. 

HYMN BY RALPH TRACY HALE. 
Tune: Hamburg. 
Through years of change, through years of doubt, 

Calm and unchanging hast thou stood, 
Hallowed and blest in youth and age, 
Still consecrate to human good. 

Sheltered beneath thy roof, here dwell. 
Through the long-ended struggle taught, 

Love, independence, freedom, truth, 
Triumphant in the people's thought. 

Lord, in the years to come, we pray 
That Thou wilt send Thy people light, 

And if their pathway grow too hard. 

Succor Thou them, and guide them right. 

Endue with power, and quicken hope ; 

Grant them the gift of grace to see ; 
Simple and pure their spirits keep, 

In sweet communion, Lord, with Thee. 

Letters were read by Dr. Beane from Dr. D. T. Fiske, Rev. 
J. J. Flood, Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mrs. A. M. 
Bowen, widow of Rev. Charles J. Bowen, one time pastor of 
the church. 

The Lord's prayer was repeated by the congregation. Rev. 
George H. Miner of the Baptist church leading. The doxology, 
a benediction by Rev. S. C. Beane, D. D., pastor of the church, 
and an organ postlude concluded the morning exercises. 

Lunch was served in Fraternity Hall. 



39 



AFTERNOON EXERCISES. 



There was a large attendance at the afternoon exercises in the 
meeting house. After an organ prelude played by Mrs. Noyes, 
Rev. Dr. Beane announced Hon. Elisha P. Dodge as the presid- 
ing officer. Mr. Dodge was very happy in his manner of in- 
troducing the speakers. 

Judge Francis C. Lowell of Boston was presented as the first 
speaker, a descendant of John Lowell, the first pastor of the 
church. He said in part : 

He thought inasmuch as John Lowell was his great-great-great 
grandfather it was not to be wondered at that so few of his 
decendants have lived in Newburyport for these many years. 
It was the first time, he said, that he had ever been inside this 
church. 

The speaker said that he had made considerable effort to find 
out something regarding his ancestor, John Lowell, but it was 
not easy to do so, although he filled an important place in this 
community and church. 

He had found in the public library three or four sermons, and 
a copy of the sermon delivered at his installation. 

There were two eulogies delivered by brother ministers after 
Mr. Lowell's death, the first of which it seemed as if the minister 
was improving the occasion for the benefit of his hearers, and 
the second being much like the first. 

He referred to a remarkable address John Lowell made to the 
soldiers at the time of the French war in which he asked them : 
"Would you live on garlic and wear wooden shoes.''" 

Times have changed since 1725 and since his death in 1777. 
He would be surprised, no doubt, at the views that are expressed 
in the churches today. It is not beyond a question of doubt 

40 



whether the world has so much improved or whether men have 
grown more respectful. The church is not so much needed to- 
day perhaps, as when Mr. Lowell preached here. Man lives 
more uprightly and free handed and kindly toward his neighbor. 
After quoting some who held that in these enlightened times 
churches are not needed he expresed himself as holding an en- 
tirely different idea. It is only when men reach the point where 
they are satisfied that the church will not be needed. The 
church exists to hold up an ideal, an ideal which will keep men 
dissatisfied with present attainments and create a constant en- 
deavor for better things. This church is fulfilling its duty today, 
as it has in the 175 years that are past, in holding up before its 
members an ideal never to be attained but ever to be striven for. 

Mr. John Lowell of Boston, of the sixth generation of Rev. 
John Lowell, the first pastor of the church, was the next speaker. 
He said : — 

Mr. President., Members of the First Religious Society of 
Nevjburyport., Ladies and Gentlemen : 
lam glad to be with you on this, the last day of the 175th 
year of the Church of which my grandfather (many times great) 
was the first minister, and in which he preached for upwards of 
forty years. I have listened with much interest to the scholarly 
and instructive address of Mr. Withington, and I realize that at 
this time in the afternoon I am only expected to say a few words, 
and those only because of the virtues of my ancestors. I have, 
therefore but two thoughts to suggest to you. The first is one 
suggested to me by Bishop Hamilton of the Methodist-Episcopal 
Church, in a sermon which he preached on the Steamship New 
England, coming from Liverpool to Boston, namely, — that to be 
as good as our forefathers we must be enough better to make due 
allowance for our superior advantages ; and second, — that in 
these days of fierce competition and mad struggle for wealth, 
when there is a tendency to lower the standards of life and 
business, it is well to return occasionally to the towns in which 
our ancestors live — to walk their streets, gaze upon their houses, 
enter their churches, — in short, to get back again in the atmos- 
phere in which they dwelt, to draw inspiration from their 
sources, to become imbued with their spirit and the good old 

41 6 



New England standards, — the blessed heritage of all New Eng- 
landers. These, among many other things, we can obtain from 
the old town of Newburyport, and especially from this celebra- 
tion. 

Mr. Dodge referred to the fact that John Lowell, aged 14, of 
the seventh generation of John Lowell, was present, and ex- 
pressed the wish of the congregation that he might have a 
long and happy life. Mr. Dodge said that on account of his age 
he would refrain from asking him to speak. 

Hon. Charles Francis Adams, a descendant of John Adams, 
the fourth president of the United States, and grandson of John 
Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, was 
the next speaker, who spoke as follows : — 

Mr, Moderator,, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

When, some weeks ago, I received an invitation from your 
pastor, and my very good friend, Mr. Beane, inviting me to be 
present this afternoon, he said in his note — "Your Grandfather 
was for a few years in his youth an interested and active member 
of the First Religious Society in Newburyport. One hundred 
and thirteen years ago he was in a great measure instrumental in 
obtaining the settlement of Rev. John Andrews, his young Old 
Colony friend, as minister here, where his family is still repre- 
sented." 

Under the circumstances, I did not feel quite at liberty to 
disregard this invitation. Naturally, also, — in view of the 
fact stated by Mr. Beane, — Newburyport, and this Society, have 
an abiding interest to me. It was here that my grandfather 
passed two of the most studious years of his younger life, and 
here that he acquired from a master in the profession such 
knowledge of the law as he had : — a knowledge subsequently 
very useful to him. 

But, being called on for this occasion, I also felt that prob- 
ably the best use I could make of my allotted time would be by 
communicating to you, from the diary J. Q_. Adams then kept, 
some extracts recalling the Newburyport of 114 years ago. 
Experience had taught me that strangers coming into a family 
gathering of this sort are apt to deal in generalities, and even 

42 



platitudes, which perhaps might equally well be altogether dis- 
pensed with ; while, on the other hand, extracts from a local 
contemporaneous record of the eighteenth century can hardly 
fail to have a more or less living interest in the twentieth. 

Though J. Q^ Adams was then a young man of only twenty- 
one, he had already acquired that diary habit, if I may so call it, 
which was almost coterminous with his life. His record during 
the period he lived in Newburyport is contained in the little 
volume I hold in my hand, — a small octavo, bound in calf, in 
which is to be found the eighteenth century daily record of a 
law student in the office of Theophilus Parsons, then the 
leading lawyer at the Essex County bar. In it I find many 
references to persons living and prominent in the Newburyport 
of 1790, young and old, and of both sexes. It is needless forme 
to say that every single one of those so mentioned has long since 
passed away, the dust of the vast majority of them mingling 
with the soil of Newburyport more than half a century ago. 
Their moss-covered memorials stand in your grave-yards ; and, 
now, it is to their children and great-grandchildren, so far as 
their descendants yet preserve an hereditary connection with 
this society, that these extracts are read. To such they have an 
interest far exceeding the interest which might attach to any- 
thing possible for me to say. 

Let me further merely premise that, at the time he lived here, 
J. Q. Adams was a young man, just graduated from Harvard 
College. Indeed, he attained his majority while residing in 
Newburyport. It is further a gratification for me to say that, 
in the whole of this intimately kept diary of a very young man, 
I have met with no single word or experience which could not 
find its way into print. It is the altogether creditable record of 
an exceptionally mature and very studious young man, yet one 
by no means devoid of the social instinct, or the capacity of en- 
joyment among companions of his own age of either sex. The 
following extracts constitute, perhaps, a tenth part of the entire 
record of the period covered. 

November 3, 1787. Between 8 and 9 this morning I cross'd 
Charlestown and Maiden bridges. I rode as far as Danvers before 
I stopp'd. There I found Mr. W. Parsons and his wife, Mr. T. 
Parsons and Mr. J. Tracey. They started from thence before 
me but I came up with them again in Ipswich.*** From Ip- 

43 



swich I rode in company with them to Newbury, and at about 
sun-set I return'd my horse to his ow^ner. 

November 15th : This afternoon I went with Townsend and 
attended Mr. Spring's lecture. I was much better pleased than 
I expected to be with this gentleman's preaching. His senti- 
ments are extremely contracted and illiberal and he maintained 
them with the zeal and enthusiasm of a bigot, but his delivery is 
very agreeable, and I believe his devotion sincere ; although I 
shall never be a convert to his principles I will not condemn 
them as impious and heretical. 

November i8th: In the forenoon I attended at Mr. Smith's 
meeting : he preaches without notes, and like all the preachers, 
who make a practice of this, that I ever heard, often repeats the 
same sentiments. 

December 9th : Attended Dr. Tucker's meeting in the fore- 
noon. He gave us an excellent sermon upon the story of Haman, 
from which he drew a number of very rational reflections upon 
the evils of pride, haughtiness and a revengeful disposition. In 
the afternoon I went and heard Mr. Carey. 

January 6 : Heard Mr. Carey preach two sermons this day ; 
but the weather was very cold. In the afternoon the Parson 
was extremely vehement in an occasional discourse upon the re- 
newal of the year, he complained exceedingly that the language of 
the people was "the time is not come," and with all his powers 
of eloquence and of reasoning he exerted to prove that the time is 
come. He was rather too violent : his zeal was so animated that 
he almost had the appearance of being vexed and chagrined — 
but he said he was not aiming at popularity. — Passed the 
evening with Dr. Kilham at Mr. Carter's, where we had a 
whole magazine of antiquity. Miss Sally Jenkins was there. 
I was pleased with her manners. She is of the middling female 
size, and has a fine form, the features of her face are regular, 
and were not the nose too much inclined to the aquiline would 
be very handsome. Twenty-two I should think her age ; but 
perhaps she is two or three years younger. She conversed not 
much.'' 

January 20th : I attended at parson Carey's meeting. We 
had two sermons, in continuation of a subject upon which he 
preached last Sunday ; the excellency of Christianity. I passed 
the whole evening in writing veiy industriously : not a little to 

44 



the increase of this volume. — It thaw'd all last night, but not so 
as to carry off all the snow. The streets, were like a river the 
chief of the day, but at about five the wind got round to the North- 
west, and blew with some violence. In two hours time the 
streets were dry, and the ice strong enough to bear a man. I 
think I never saw a more sudden, or a greater alteration in the 
weather. 

February loth : I went with Townsend in the forenoon to 
hear parson Tucker ; he gave us an excellent discourse from 
Ecclesiastes VII, 17- Be not overmuch wicked, neither be 
thou foolish. Why shouldst thou die before thy time.'' with- 
out alluding to the late circumstance of Hooper's death, it appears 
plainly that the sermon was dictated by that occasion ; and it 
was very well adapted ; he particularly exhorted his hearers to 
avoid scenes of debauchery, of lewdness and intemperance, and 
with his usual liberality and ability recommended the opposite 
virtues. I did not attend meeting in the afternoon. 

April 27th : I attended meeting all day, and heard Mr. 
Andrews. He speaks very well, and his composition was I 
believe generally pleasiwg. I sometimes think that he mistakes 
his genius and imagines that his fancy is lively and his first 
thoughts the best; while in truth his conception is naturally slow, 
and he ought to study greatly his writings. He was this day 
very brilliant in his expressions and flowery in his periods, but 
his thoughts were rather too much in the common run, and this 
fault I have frequently observed in his pieces. 

May 4th: I heard Mr. Andrews preach, his sermons were 
both very short; but better I think than those he delivered last 
Sunday. His text was "If they believe not Moses and the 
prophets neither would they be persuaded though one rose from 
the dead." Pickman observed that there was a Sermon of Arch- 
bishop Tillotson from the same text, and the similarity is such as 
proves that Mr. Andrews had read it ; though not so great as to 
charge him with plagiarism. However the people in this Town 
are so bigoted that a man of Mr. Andrews's liberal religi )us 
sentiments will not be half so popular a preacher as one who 
would rant and rave and talk nonsense for an hour together in 
his Sermon. 

May nth: I attended meeting to hear parson Barnard of 
Salem. He gave us two very excellent Sermons. And his 

45 



prayers were admirable ; which is something very uncommon. 
I am told indeed that he regularly composes this part of the 
Service as well as his Sermons ; an example worthy of imita- 
tion. His address for Mr. Carey, was tender and affectionate, 
and the manner in which he spoke it was truly affecting. 
Thompson and Putnam pass'd the evening with me. 

August 3d, 1788: I heard Mr. Andrews preach. About as 
long as he was last Sunday. I think he is gaining ground in the 
parish. And am in hopes that he may be finally settled without 
much opposition. Which would greatly disappoint some flam- 
ing zealots, who like all zealots justify unworthy means by the 
sanctity of the end. 

August loth: In the afternoon I went to Mr. Spring's meet- 
ing and heard a Mr. Story preach there hammering away in the 
true stile upon predestination and free will. None but an 
atheist he said could doubt of the former, and no man that had 
common sense of the latter. He endeavored to soften his sys- 
tem as much as possible, hoping thereby, I suppose, that he 
might be employ'd in the other parish. I walk'd with Stacey 
and Remain in the evening. 

August 14: This was a day of humiliation and prayer at 
Mr. Carey's on account of his sickness, and to implore the assist- 
ance of providence in choosing a colleague to suply his place. 
Mr. Webster of Salisbury preached in the forenoon ; and per- 
formed very well. But Dr. Tucker in the afternoon was very 
interesting and pathetic ; in showing how good and pleasant a 
thing it is for biethi-en to dwell together in unity. I attended 
Mrs. Emery's funeral. Mr. Andrews made the prayer; and 
performed even better than was expected. 

In presenting the venerable Rev. Alfred P. Putnam, D. D., 
of Salem to the assemblage, Pres. Dodge said : "As we are a 
religious society we should hear as much as possible from the 
clergy." 

Mr. Chairman.^ Ladies and Gentlemen : 

No doubt it is because I "have come down from a former 
generation," that I have been asked to say something, in the 
course of my remarks, about the earlier ministers of this old 

46 



honored church. Of course, as one begins to be reckoned am- 
ongst the '*Venerables," it is reasonable to suppose that he has 
lost not a little of his grip upon the things of the past ; and I 
confess that it is with much of regret, if not of mortification, that 
my personal recollections of your first minister, Rev. John 
Lowell, who was settled in 1721, and even of your second, Rev. 
Thomas Gary, who followed him in 1768, are slightly dim and 
confused. But when it comes to the Rev. John Andrews, 
who began his labors here in 1788, and continued his pastorate 
until 1830, the retrospect grows brighter for me. For at the 
latter date I was still alive and perhaps was still somewhat lively ; 
and though more than three score years and ten have rolled away 
since he then retired from his work in a good old age, I can 
hardly forget that I had the distinction of being one of his 
contemporaries, while it is also given me to recall the scene which 
I see now just as clearly as I did at the time, when the venerated 
parson welcomed his successor and friend. Rev. Thomas B. 
Fox, and, as the historian relates, "gracefully returned from the 
pulpit to the pew ; an example of Christian humility as rare as 
it was dignified." 

His well-remembered and highly esteemed daughters long sur- 
vived him, and it is said that when your bright, humorous, pithy 
and revered Orthodox neighbor of years long gone. Dr. With- 
ington, who lives again in his distinguished son we have heard 
with so much delight today, used to borrow of these excellent 
ladies of your parish the weekly Unitarian '■'■ Christian Regis- 
ter" he would in due time bring bick each number, and thrust- 
ing it in at the door, would jocularly exclaim, '''' Here's your Pizen 
Paper !" I once heard him preach in Danvers and have long 
been familiar with his "Puritan," "Solomon's Song," "Bunch 
of Myrrh," and what not : and if I ever wondered where he got 
all his wit and wisdom, how easy it was for a Unitarian, having 
heard that story, to say that here was only another of those, who, 
though still "sound in the faith," were accustomed to go in and 
out, and find pasture ! 

I knew Mr. Fox, who, I need not say, was a good preacher 
and an interesting, favorite contributor to the Christian Register, 
Boston Transcript and other publications of a literary or re- 
ligious character. He, too, was witty, genial and companion- 

47 



able, and was easily in touch and fraternal relations with a some- 
what noted circle of Boston editors, preachers and authors. 

Dr. Charles Lowell, who here preached Mr. Fox's ordination 
sermon in 1830, I once saw at his home, at Cambridge, where 
he died, full of years and honors. One of my lady parishioners 
in Roxbury, who with her parents had belonged to his West 
Church of Boston, whom he had christened and married to her 
husband, still perhaps among the living, and who like all who 
were ever privileged to know him as a pastor, remembered 
him with fond and undying affection and reverence, wanted 
once more to see him before he should go hence and kindly 
asked me to accompany her to his residence at *'Elmwood," 
knowing how much I also desired to meet him. Having 
entered the parlor of the old historic mansion, we soon heard 
him coming with feeble step down the stairs and presently he 
appeared to view at the door where he stood for a moment, 
gazing intently upon his visitors, and looking, with his earnest, 
beautiful eyes and face, with his fine, silver locks falling down 
his neck, like a saint ready to be translated, when suddenly he 
recognized my friend and hastened to clasp her in his arms, 
exclaiming, "Ah! My child, my child, I know you, I know 
you!" There was no dry eye in that presence, and I could well 
understand, what I had always heard, that this holy man of God 
never forgot any member of his flock, but made his people all 
forever his own by the depth and power of his love. 

I never took much stock in some of Mr. Higginson's more 
radical religious views, but invested quite largely in his anti- 
slavery gospel. Earlier or later I heard him at various times 
proclaim it in his ever fearless, uncompromising and captivating 
way, and if what they say is so, I doubt not that his hearers in 
his old church here got their full share of it. I heard him read 
his essay when he graduated at the Divinity School at Cam- 
bridge, and it was easy to predict, from the spirit and style of 
that performance, that he would one day be the scholar, re- 
former and knight-errant he has since been. In his charming 
book of "Cheerful Yesterdays" — and what book has he written, 
or what lecture has he delivered that has not been charming.? — he 
gives us a thrilling account of the great and memorable meeting 
at Fanueil Hall at the time of the intense excitement about 

48 



Anthony Burns, the arrested fugitive slave held in "durance 
vile" in the Boston Court-house for his Virginia master. I was 
in the gallery of the old "Cradle of Liberty" on that occasion 
and I have never admired the colonel more than I did for the 
part he then acted. Sad for me that I never myself bore arms in 
the glorious fight, but I was mighty glad that others did. It 
was a great matter when Phillips and Parker, by their stinging 
vv^ords and marvelous eloquence, roused the vast crowds to fren- 
zied rage, until the wild cry arose, "To the Court-house! To 
the Court-house!" The rush was made for the rescue, with 
Higginson as the leader. Though unavailing, it was yet one of 
the fateful finger-points, presaging the way of slavery's doom. 

"Through storm to calm." I claim the brave man for the "City 
of Peace," worthy descendant of Salem's earliest minister, 
Francis Higginson, of blessed memory. 

Charles Bowen was my immediate successor at Roxbury, 
faithful, useful and beloved, there as he was here. He married 
a daughter of that Christlike minister of our faith in Charles- 
ton, S. C, Dr. Samuel Oilman, and brought her to you as a 
gracious and devoted helpmeet indeed, in the work and social 
life of the church, as well as in the home. And that, friends is 
one of the reasons why you are as good as your are ! Her 
husband's early death was a sore aflfliction to the people of my 
first love. 

Mr. Waterston I knew still better. When I was absent abroad 
for a year or two, in 1862-63, he took charge of my Roxbury 
.parish, and was a true shepherd of the flock, winning all 
hearts by his high character, his kind and affectionate spirit, his 
warm, sympathies and cultured mind, and by his earnest and 
spiritual sermons and service. As meanwhile he still resided in 
Boston and his gifted wife could not regularly or often accom- 
pany him on his weekly visits to you, I fear you did not see 
and know her as you did Mrs. Bowen, and that may be one of. 
the reasons why you are not better than you are ! One day 
Mr. Waterston took me to see her father, Hon. Josiah Quincy, 
Ex-Member of Congress and Ex-President of Harvard College, 
then full ninety years of age, and I shall not soon forget how, as 
the grand and illustrious old sage and patriot sat there in his 
Boston home, he discoursed to us of the goodness of God and 



49 



his faith in immortality, and then, closing his eyesy repeated 
most impressively the familiar lines : 

"When all thy mercies, O my God^ 

My rising soul surveys, 
Transported with the view I'm lost, 

In wonder, love and praise." 

But I must not venture further in speaking of your former 
ministers, or the vanished good and great of our communion. 
Let me, however, say a simple word about my cherished friend, 
the present pastor of the church that is in all our hearts today 
and that is so rich in its history. The more I think of the matter, 
the more I am surprised, as possibly you may be, at the extent 
to which I have been identified with your interests for the long, 
long century ! As for Dr. Beane, I think I must have known 
him long before you did yourselves. Did we not attend the same 
academy at Pembroke, N. H., though perhaps not at exactly 
the same time.'' And was he not afterward settled in Salem, and 
did I not still later pitch my own tent there for that very reason .'' 
And have we not both all along exchanged pulpits and kept the 
faith ? At all events, in wandering through the fold, I have 
found that scarcely one of the brethren is summoned back to the 
old places of their ministry as often as he, to preach the word, to 
tie the knot for happy couples, to christen the children, and 
to comfort the mourners. That, of itself, tells the story. Able, 
scholarly, zealous in his high calling and honored in all the 
churches, he is a tower of strength for the common cause, and we 
congratulate him and you that he is here to perpetuate the long 
and noble line of your ministers. I hope that he and you will 
all live through the hundred years to come and that they may 
be even more prosperous than the century past ; and that when 
you shall reassemble to celebrate and rejoice together in 2001, 
''there will be everywhere far better illustrations than now of the 
religion of love to God and love to man which we profess. By 
that time it may perhaps be reasonably expected that our often- 
ended war will finally be over and that the people at large and 
at last will have learned to love the Christ of truth and right- 
eousness, and of liberty and mercy, more than bloody conquest 
and rapine, empire or party, office or gold. Then will the 

50 



country of our pride and hope, its perils past and its banner 
pure once more, have become again the joy and not the fear or 
menace of the world, and the churches of every name and 
sect and creed will as we trust rise and shine, and see eye to 
eye, to be forever one, chanting in unison and in sincerity the 
angels' song, "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, 
good will to men." 

Rev. Mr. Stewart of Lynn, spoke as the representative of the 
Essex Conference Association. 

Mr. President : 

I appreciate the privilege of participating in this happy occa- 
sion and of responding for the Unitarian churches of the neigh- 
borhood. I have great admiration for those Colonial pioneers 
who sailed up the Merrimac and near-by rivers of the North 
Shore, and, seeing a good thing, knew it and settled upon it 
and made it a home for us their descendants. We are more in- 
debted to them than we can say, and especially to the strong re- 
ligious instincts that prompted them, among the first things they 
did, to hew out the timber for a meeting house. Those prim- 
itive little structures, with one notable exception, have dis- 
appeared, but the churches that grew out of them stand and en- 
dure, and around them cling the most precious traditions of 
culture and piety. It is something for our rejoicing. 

The course of the church, however, like the course of true 
love does not always run smooth. I find that what some Essex 
County historian has described as an "ultra, angular and pug- 
nacious" sort of preaching very often ruffled the pacific, and 
possibly sleepy pews of old time, The congregations were some- 
times disturbed by what were called "high thoughts." Precisely 
what the high thoughts were, I shall not undertake to say. But 
it is enough to say that we are indebted to these high thoughts 
for a great many good things, and for one thing, the expansion 
and the progress of the church. 

From my own point of view, it would seem that I ought to be 
here as the representative of the First Church, in Lynn, that 
Church having been founded in 1631, and being fourth in the 
order of churches founded in the Massachusetts Colony. But as 

51 



it happened, in 1817 or thereabouts, when they were hearing 
candidates, the choice lay between an Andover student and a 
Cambridge student, the Andover man got the call by a bare 
majority. In a year or two afterward the Second Congregational 
society, of which I am minister, came to birth. It was a case 
of theology of ''high thoughts." But it would not make such 
difference, as theology goes nowadays, whether the candidates 
were from Andover or Cambridge, the two schools, as we know 
now exchanging their professors from time to time, with no 
great strain of conscience. 

My pastorate being of the old fashioned sort, a long one, has 
permitted me to enjoy the fellowship of many of your ministers, 
from the time of Mr. Calthrop down to these days of my fellow 
student Dr. Beane, who came into Essex County a little before 
me, and has enjoyed a long and honored ministry here and in 
Salem. You are to be congratulated that your ancient church, 
like the Ship of State, goes sailing on, though the command 
has passed from hand to hand. 

Our churches, Mr. President, like everything else, have their 
struggles for existence. Yet such a historical day as this, if no 
other, shows that whatever the obstacle, the church will some- 
how come uppermost, and that it is a necessary factor of society. 

Let me simply add that I like to think of all Essex County 
churches as forming one very bright group of constellation in the 
Ecclesiastical heavens. There is a difference in the magnitude 
of the stars and they do not apparently revolve round one 
another. Independency is still very characteristic of them ; 
they are quite fixed and easily distinguished. But this is to be 
said, that they rest in the pleasant atmosphere of a very strong 
and affectionate fellowship ; and this anniversary with its great 
number of attendants attests it ; and we trust all succeeding 
anniversaries will attest it. 

After the singing of a hymn Mr. Herbert D. Hale was the 

next speaker, as follows : 

Mr. Chairman., Ladies and Gentlemen : 

There is something deligtfully quaint and old fashioned about 
this church interior. Somehow, it takes us completely away 
from the mad rush of to-day and from the modern improvements 

52 



of every kind that we have left behind us this morning in the 
city. It suggests in a way, "Cranford" that delightful story of 
Mrs. Gaskill's, so rich in old fashioned and dreamy reminiscence. 
Possibly "dreamy" is not the adjective wliich I should use in 
connection with a church interior, but still I see no one asleep 
as yet, and certain it is that architectural effect has combined to 
give quiet and repose in this excellent example of Colonial 
work. 

The exterior also, I think one would pick out as being one 
of the most perfect results of our old Colonial work. And yet 
it is said, that there is no definite architectural style in America. 
People say, unfortunatly with some truth, as they walk our 
streets, they see here an English Tudor cottage and there a 
French chateau ; a high office building, built on Classical lines 
on one side of the street, and a little further on another building, 
built on no especial lines at all. But be that as it may, I feel 
sure that our national style of architecture is the good old Col- 
onial style, which we might do well to follow and develop. 

The outside of the Church shows careful and thorough study 
of the old Classical orders. The three large doors give ample 
access to the congregation coming out and going in; the use of 
the Doric pilaster is very effective and is charmingly placed. 
Large Corinthian pilasters reach up from the base of the build- 
ing towards the roof and above rises the spire, one of the most 
perfect that I have ever seen. Rows of Ionic columns rise upon 
the Ionic columns to the spire, which tapers off gracefully to the 
sky. The sense of proportion is manifest everywhere in this 
design and this should always be so in a good architectural com- 
position. One will invariably note that there is something not 
unlike almost mathematical proportion running through good 
work ; as to the doors, the height is twice the width ; there is a 
relation between the width and the height of the columns; the 
cornice has its due place as regards length of the column shaft, 
and the pedestal below also is designed in the proper proportion. 

It is true, much as it is in connection with the human form, 
which recalls a story of the old Quaker, a stately, portly gentle- 
man, who had a class in proportion. He was speaking on the 
human form, and he said to his scholars, "Twice around my 
thumb, once around my wrist ; twice around my wrist, once 

53 



around my neck; twice around my neck, once around my waist. 
Can you think, my students, of any further points in connection 
with this human proportion? "I should judge," said a scholar, 
"that twice around thy waist might be once around Boston Com- 
mon." Such an analogy, however, scarcely applies to this 
church, although once up to the top of the spire, might be sev- 
eral times across Pleasant street, before the door. 

Our ancestors when they first landed, found no houses here, 
and I suppose very few churches, but they were a hardy set and 
the first buildings which they built, were constructed mainly of 
logs with thatched roofs of bark or brush. And the churches 
too, were very small and simple, like huts, where they could 
gather together on Sunday mornings, made more to keep out 
the elements and the Indians than for any architectural display. 

But as time went on, and the land became more peaceful and 
the settlers more prosperous, they looked for better homes. 
First they made for their houses the old fashioned lean-to, which 
you all must remember so well, two stories in front, with the 
roof trailing off behind over the kitchen ell. There are lovely 
examples of this sort of house; the old Fairbanks cottage in 
Dedham is one, and the house where John Adams and John 
Quincy Adams lived in Quincy is another. 

The churches too were improved. At first they built ordinary 
square box-like structui-es with the roof resting on all four sides 
and a sort of belfry with a weather vane above, where hung the 
bell, while the rope descended straight down into the assembly 
room, coming, I suppose, in the central pew, a convenient place 
for the sexton, who would be ready at any time to sound the 
alarm i- 

But as the country grew more and more prosperous, and the 
Indians were crowded back, the houses became even more 
attractive. Men remembered what their homes were in old 
England, and first the gambrel roofed houses were built, and 
then what we might call the Mansard roof, a roof having two 
angles. Of this style the old Cragie House, the Longfellow 
House, in Cambridge, is a charming example. 

After this the square three storey Colonial houses with flat 
decked roofs were built. We have a great number of them in 
Newburyport on High street, but possibly the best known ex- 



54 



ample is Elmwood, the old fashioned home of James Russell 
Lowell, in Cambridge. I seem to have described the old ances- 
tral homes of both Mr. Adams and Mr. Lowell and I would like 
to do the same of the whole congregation but I am afraid my 
time will hardly permit. 

It seems extraordinary that our old Colonial ancestors, the 
builders and designers, could have wrought such perfect work, 
having had no trained English architects, in whose office they 
could study; but they had numberless old plates and books 
brought from England, in which designs and details were care- 
fully drawn. Door-ways and windows, cornices and columns 
which were of the most graceful and classical design had been 
published in numberless plates and these plates the old builders 
had used to great advantage, as we can see. Each little town or 
community was apt to have from one to two builders, each 
builder had these books, and therefore a certain individual style 
is apt to run through communities within a few miles of each 
other. Architecture in Cape Cod for instance, is different in 
its details, from architecture hereabouts. On the Cape, the 
houses are rather lower, but the details and proportions of the 
door-ways and the cornices and other mouldings are strangely 
alike, and you will see in passing through the city that number- 
less architectural points are pretty nearly the same. 

It was an excellent thing for these old builders that they had 
but one path to pursue. They were like the pilot, whom a young 
captain had just taken on board to guide his ship into a harbor. 
It was a stormy night and this was the first time that the 
captain had made this port. He turned to the pilot and said, 
"of course you know where all the rocks are.'"' "No," said the 
pilot, "I do not." "But you are taking in my valuable ship, 
surely you must know all the rocks and the reefs in the harbor !" 
"No," said the pilot, "I know nothing of the reefs." "But 
what shall I do, we surely will be lost.?" "Well," said the 
pilot, "I do not know where the rocks are, but I do know 
where there are no rocks, and it is through that passage that I 
will bring your ship." 

This was the way with these old builders — they knew one good 
style and they knew it well. They knew nothing about the pit- 
falls that beset some of us in these modern times. They thought 
nothing of Gothic architecture or Romanesque, or what had 

55 



been seen at the Chicago Exposition or the Pan American at Buf- 
falo. They worked on a good definite line and they did their 
work well. 

Old records show that the contractors were very much as they 
are today; in fact, I find one builder in the central part of the 
State making a proposition, in which he says that he will build 
a new church, doing all the outside boarding and clapboarding, 
building floor-beams and floors, putting on the roof-boards and 
the shingles for a certain sum, adding that if the building is not 
completed by a certain date, that he will forfeit $6 to the Build- 
ing Committee, and in the Post Script he adds, "Shingles, nails, 
boards and rum for raising are to be supplied by the owners." 
But I am sure in the building of this church, this rule was not 
adopted, and that no spirits could have helped in creating this 
beautiful structure. 

It is diflScult to say who the designer of the building was. 
Tradition points to the name of Timothy Palmer, but it is, I 
think, hardly authentic. The old records do not speak of him 
as the designer of the church, and though careful note is taken of 
all the expenditures which were made in connection with the 
building, I believe that no amount was set aside for Palmer. 
Therefore, I must say that we really are uncertain as to who de 
signed this lovely building. 

There are many houses and many churches all through New 
England, almost in every way showing grace and beauty of de- 
sign, of whose buiders' names we know nothing. Their work 
is there, but their name is gone, and yet they have left us this 
lovely example of old Colonial architecture, and how could they 
have done more noble work than working together to bring 
this American style to such perfection. Their names are gone, 
but their work still lives. 

"Only a cheerful city stands, 
Builded by his hardened hands. 

Only ten thousand homes. 

Where every day 

The cheerful play 
Of love and hope and courage comes. 
These are his monument, and these alone. 
There is no form of bronze and no memorial stone. 

56 



What was his name? I do not know his name. 
I only know he heard God's voice and came, 
Brought all he loved across the sea, 
To live and work for God and me ; 

Felled the ungracious oak ; 

Dragged from the soil 

With horrid toil 
The thrice-gnarled roots and stubborn rock, 
With plenty piled the haggard mountain side, 
And at the end, without memorial, died. 
No blaring trumpet sounded out his fame. 
He lived, — he died, — I do not know his name, 

George W. Fox, assistant secretary of the American Unitarian 
Association, a son of the late Rev. Thomas B. Fox, a former 
minister of the society, spoke briefly, expressing his deep grati- 
fication at being able to be present. 

Rev. Charles E. St. John, secretary of the American Unitarian 
Association, said that there was much interest in this occasion 
among the denomination at large. There is an educational 
value in such events and it is helpful to look back at the past. 
It is what the men of the past have accomplished that gives 
us inspiration and it is the fact that we are all able to do some- 
thing that gives us our greatest satisfaction. The men of the 
past have done what they could, basing their work on religion, 
and the church will go on so long as religion is the great in- 
spiration of our lives. 

Mr. Henry B. Little read a letter from Rev. Joseph May, a 
former minister, now in Italy, and an extract from a letter from 
Hon. Wm. C. Todd of Atkinson, N. H., and mentioned the fact 
that letters had been received from a large number of people. 
He named some of the authors, as follows; Rev. Samuel R. Cal- 
throp of Syracuse, N. Y., Rev. George L. Stowell, Rev. 
Daniel W. Moorehouse of New York, Dr. Edward E. Hale, 
Samuel A. Eliot, Mayor Moses Brown, William C. Gannett of 

57 8 



Rochester, N. Y., Moorfield Storey, Esq., of Boston, Rev. 
John W. Dodge of this city. 

Rev. Dr. Beane read a letter from Hon. Milton Reed of Fall 
River and the following beautiful verses sent by Harriet Prescott 
SpofFord : 

Keeping his flocks along the hill 
The singer saw the day begin. 
The darkness fail, the splendor win, 
Sunrise build heaven in the sky, — 
Lift up, ye everlasting doors. 
He cried, and be ye lifted high, 
The King of Glory shall come in. 

Let us who in Christ's spirit here 
Would worship God, assoiled of sin, 
Would see wrong fail and godhead win, 
Fling wide the portals of the soul! 
Lift up the gates of every heart ! 
The deeps shall open like a scroll, 
The King of Glory shall come in ! 

Miss Cofiin very finely sang "Ave Maria" by Bach-Gounod, 
Mr. J. K. Nichols playing a violin obligato. Mrs. Noyes played 
the organ accompaniment. 

Mr. Henry A. Noyes of Taunton, son of the late Amos 
Noyes, and a former resident, was next introduced. He spoke 
as follows : 

For the loyal Newburyporter who has migrated there is one 
supremest joy — to return to the beloved city of his birth and 
to the scenes of his childhood, and when with this home-coming 
is coupled the observance of an anniversary like this the happi- 
ness is two-fold. Among the institutions of this good old city 
none deserves greater honor than this ancient, but vigorous 
church, for none has had a larger participation in the upbuild- 
ing and uplifting of the community. Firm as her foundation 
in her adherence to Christian truth, lofty as her own heaven- 
pointing spire in aspiration, she has stood, a mighty bulwark of 
right, through the changing century of time. 

58 



Here the brave word has been spoken, and here the heroic 
act done. Her ministers have been leaders of thought and 
pioneers of religious reform. Her children have been taught to 
love and not to fear God, to do good for righteousness' sake, and 
not through hope of reward ; to worship by deed, rather than 
word, and, having done all, to stand. They come to her shrine 
today to acknowledge their debt ard to rejoice in her prosperity. 
The passing years have but made her more dear and more 
sacred in their hearts, and they reverently ask that the blessing 
of God may continue to rest upon her. 

In these 175 years how great has been the change in religious 
thought. How the mighty march of progress has carried the 
citadels of superstition and bigotry. How the light has flooded 
the dark caverns until only the wilfully blind can bear the 
effulgence. Our forefathers persecuted witches and Quakers, 
but the new religion is to teach love and do good. In the 
great essentials the whole Christian world is one. Freedom of 
thought and action has risen from the ashes about the feet of the 
martyrs. We are still very far from the millenium, but we are 
much farther from savagery. Man at his best is a million 
years ahead of what the ancients thought God was. Selfish- 
ness is still strong in the world, but philanthropy is striking 
giant blows at its locks and bars. 

The thought of the after life has changed. The pearly gates 
and the golden streets have faded away and heaven is the place 
where the spirit casts off the pettiness of earth and develops into 
perfect purity in the light of divine love. The old materialistic 
conception is passing, and lives here are shaping themselves to 
enter worthily the great beyond. 

We are marching on to the harmonious strains of the angel 
song. We are on rising ground, and, though the ascent is 
sometimes hard we keep our eyes on the starry vault and press 
upward. 

We are glad that our church has been on the firing line of 
progress ; that she ever has had her face toward the dawn and her 
feet on the rock of faith ; that she has been true' to the highest 
ideal and receptive to the noblest thought. We cherish her, not 
alone for what she has been, but for what she is. Now, as 
formerly, she is strong with the strength of high endeavor, 

59 



qright with the glow of divine intelligence. We, her sons and 
daughters, have in her history a glorious heritage and it is for us 
to keep the record clear. 

The stones of this grand old church may crumble to dust and 
her timbers dissolve to ashes, but the glorious principles she has 
taught and the noble lives her sons have lived must and shall en- 
dure. 

In an introduction, sparkling with witticisms. Chairman Dodge 
introduced Edmund L. Pearson as the next speaker. Mr. Pearson 
read the following humorous poem : 

"There's a mystery been puzzling me for almost fifteen years, 

Today, I hope 'twill clear away — as every mystery clears ; 

For nearly every Sunday within that space of time 

I have sat within this church — the requirements of rhyme 

Will scarcely here permit an exact enumeration. 

But that I take to be a fairly honest estimation. 

And every Sunday in those years since one so long ago 
There's a question I have asked myself, a thing I've wished to 

know. 
It's horribly annoying to a meditative mind. 
It frightfully disturbs the religiously inclined, 
To have a vexing problem eternally presented. 
Yet never have an answer conveniently invented. 

And so today I put it plain, that all may understand — 
If anyone can answer me, I beg he'll raise his hand — 
Back of the pulpit, on the wall, with fat red cords to bind 'em. 
Some ancient bright red curtains hang — but what on earth's 
behind 'em .'' 

That's only one of many things I've found extremely vexing, 
As instance — how to tell the time's a matter most perplexing, 
When, as I look at yonder clock, why, what am I to do.-* 
Upon its antique countenance — three hands instead of two. 

Up in the pulpit there's a rest on which the Bible sits 
Quite in defiance of the things that gravity permits. 
I'd marvelled greatly this could be, for miracles are past — 
One Sunday morn it came down bang, what joy was mine at 
last.? 

60 



There's something else within this place, whereof I dare not 

speak, — 
The old-time builder's heart and mind leave modern phrases 

weak. 
Deep in his stern New England soul, in seasons long ago, 
He dreamed, perchance, of Plymouth woods, beneath their 

mask of snow. 

He thought, mayhap, upon the folk New England's churches 

then 
Had bred within their frozen midst, upon a line of men — 
Upon whose faces winter sat, but down within whose souls 
Burned all the heat and all the sun that springtime e'er unrolls." 

The congregation then arose and sang the doxology. The 
benediction was prounonced impressively by Rev. Dr. Putnam. 

The following named officiated as the reception committee : 
Miss Mary S. Balch, Miss Elizabeth Marquand, Miss Margaret 
M. Stone, Miss S. May Stone, Mrs. Edward A. Hale, Miss Ellen 
L. Osgood, Miss Serena D. Toppan, Miss Kate S. Hale, Miss 
Kate H. Greenleaf, William R. Johnson, Caleb B. Huse, 
Herbert A. Gillett, Dr. John F. Young, Lawrence W. Piper, 
Charles Thurlow, Dr. Ernest H. Noyes, William D. Little, Mrs. 
Mary E. Wills, Miss Edith Wills, Wm. H. Swasey, Henry B. 
Little and Hon. Luther Dame. 




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